At least 243 people, including 59 children, have tested positive for novel coronavirus in Mizoram, pushing the state’s tally to 21,246, a health official said on Sunday. 

42 new cases were confirmed at a RT-PCR laboratory in Zoram Medical College (ZMC) near Aizawl, while 24 cases were detected through TrueNat facilities and 177 were detected through Rapid Antigen Test from various districts, he said. 

The 243 fresh cases were reported from at least 83 villages and neighbourhoods in 9 districts, with Aizawl reporting the highest at 152, followed by Lunglei and Kolasib, both reported 41 and 30 cases, he said. 

With the total 21,246 cases, 19 people in every 1000 population have been infected with COVID-19 based on the population of the state as per 2011 census, he said. 

The Covid-19 death toll in the state now stands at 95, which means eight persons in every one lakh population died due to Covid-19, he said. 

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At least 1.94 per cent of the total over 10.91 lakh population (2011 census) have been infected with COVID-19. 

The single-day positivity rate was 6.75 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 3,596 samples, the official said. 

Six patients have travel history and the rest 237 were found to have locally contracted the infection, he said. 

Of the 243 patients, 123 have developed symptoms of Covid-19. 

The number of Covid-19 active cases in the state now stands at 3,897, while 17,254 people have recovered from the infection, including 355 people on Saturday. 

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Mizoram has tested over 5 lakh samples for COVID-19 till date. 

The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients is 81.21 per cent and death rate is 0.44 per cent. 

As many as 5,34,860 people have been inoculated and 60,399 of them have received both doses of Covid-19 vaccine till Saturday, according to state immunisation officer Dr Lalzawmi.